Caudill Rowlett Scott (CRS) was an architecture firm founded in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, the United States in 1946. In 1983, J.E. Sirrine, an industrial engineering firm, merged with the company and the company's name was changed to CRSS, popularly known as CRS-Sirrine. It divested itself in 1994.
History
The firm was started in 1946 by
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
and soon after were located in
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East-Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin. ...
. The partners were joined in 1948 by Wallie Eugene Scott Jr. (1921–1989), who was Caudill's student.
William Merriweather Peña
William Merriweather Peña (February 10, 1919 – February 10, 2018) was an American architect and partner of Caudill Rowlett Scott. He is known for being a leading proponent in the area of architectural programming. A U.S. Army veteran from Worl ...
, another student of Caudill's was hired in 1948. He was the first employee and in 1949, he was made a partner. He expressed that it would be best to keep the company name with the first three partners names rather than extending it with each new partner. In 1954, Thomas A. Bullock Sr. (1922-2007) became a partner.
In the 1950s, they were known for building schools, with a "lean and clean" style. The schools, generally one-story, had simple designs with classrooms on one side of a corridor, maximization of windows for lighting and ventilation, and shed, flat, or gabled roofs. In
San Angelo, Texas
San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...
, the Central High School was constructed with an open design, having 13 buildings on a campus. It was the first fully air-conditioned school in the country. Using the outdoors as an aesthetic, they designed a glass-walled and domed gymnasium in
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...
ArchitectureWeek
''ArchitectureWeek'' is an international weekly magazine covering architecture and design, published online by Artifice, Inc. in Eugene, Oregon, United States. ''ArchitectureWeek'' was founded in May 2000, with its first issue publication on May ...
'' stated that "they became known as masters of modern practice and construction management." In 1958, CRS moved their office to
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
from Bryan, Texas. They began designing hospitals and had designed school and university buildings in eight countries and 26 states by 1969.
The firm relied on research, including studies and surveys that they conducted, such as with the
Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES, pronounced "tease") is an engineering research agency within The Texas A&M University System and is governed by the Board of Regents.
Headquartered in College Station, Texas, College Station, TE ...
(TEES) Architecture Division, as well as the publications that they produced. For instance, Caudill authored the book ''Toward Better School Design''. This involved the programming and designing business practice documented and promoted by William "Willie" Peña in ''Problem Seeking: An architectural programming primer'' in 1969 with a CRS programmer, John Focke. Its concepts were incorporated into the
National Council of Architectural Registration Boards
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) is a nonprofit corporation comprising the legally constituted architectural registration boards of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puert ...
(NCARB) in 1973, and it has become a standard architecture textbook.
Over the years, it developed a national reputation and also had international clients. It opened regional offices and the six partner firm employed 250 employees. It became a public corporation, CRS Design Associates, Inc. in 1970 and had added engineering and construction divisions. It was listed on the
American Stock Exchange
NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...
in 1971. During the 1970's the firm became known for prestigious projects in the Middle East, including Saudi University of Petroleum and Minerals (now known as King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals) in Dhahran, which is notable for its contemporary Islamic design, and
Riyadh University
King Saud University (KSU, ar, جامعة الملك سعود) is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulaziz to address the country's skilled worker shortage, it is the first university in the K ...
. The firm was also active in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf States.
In 1983, J.E. Sirrine, an industrial engineering firm, became part of the company and the company's name was changed to CRSS, popularly known as CRS-Sirrine. The Sirrine arm of the firm continued to pursue engineering work, much of it in the
pulp and paper industry
The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products.
Manufacturing process
The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as a paper web an ...
, while the architecture group continued to focus primarily on architecture-related work.
Eventually, the corporation also developed a core group which focused on businesses related to both architecture and industrial engineering. CRS Capital became involved in
reinsurance
Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company to insulate itself (at least in part) from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the company passes on ("cedes") some part of its own insu ...
for A/E-related firms and became involved in development of power-generation facilities. In 1994, a few years after the death of Scott, CRSS began divesting itself, selling off the architectural group to HOK of St. Louis and the Sirrine engineering division to Jacobs Engineering Group of Pasadena, California.
Selected architecture projects
Texas
* Jones Hall, Houston (1966)
* Albert Thomas Convention Center, now
Bayou Place
Bayou Place is a 130,000 square foot entertainment complex that houses multiple theaters, bars, and restaurants located in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The complex was the former Albert Thomas convention center located in the Houston Th ...
Houston Center
Houston Center is a retail and office complex in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It is owned by Brookfield Property Partners and Spear Street Capital, LLC, and operated separately by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and Brookfield Property Manage ...
, Houston (1978)
* 1177 West Loop South, Houston (1978)
* Fulbright Tower, Houston (1982)
Continental U.S.
* Olin Hall of Science, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado (1961), received Awards of Merit from two Texas chapters of the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
(AIA)
*Abington High School North Campus in Abington, PA (1964).
* Public School 219, the "dome school", in
Queens, New York
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...
(1964 design)
* Roy E. Larsen Hall at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
(1965)
*
Cypress College
Cypress College is a public community college in Cypress, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. It offers a variety of general education (55 associat ...
in
Cypress, California
Cypress is a city in northwestern Orange County within Southern California. Its population was 50,151 at the 2020 census.
History
The first people living in the area now known as Cypress were the Gabrieleno, a Native American tribe of the Ton ...
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
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, map_caption = Interactive map ...
Tulane Medical Center
The Tulane Medical Center is a hospital located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Tulane Medical Center has centers covering nearly all major specialties of medicine, and is the primary teaching hospital for the Tulane University School of Medicine. ...
Chrysler Headquarters and Technology Center
The Chrysler World Headquarters and Technology Center (CTC) is the North American headquarters and main research and development facility for the automobile manufacturer Stellantis, formerly known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). The 504-acre ...
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
Ruwais Housing Complex
''Ar-Ruwais'' ( ar, ٱلـرُّوَيْـس, lit=The Small head) is a city located some west of Abu Dhabi City, in the Al Gharbia, Abu Dhabi, Western Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. "Al Ruwais" is largely dropped in relation to the Ruwais ...
,
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
* University of Medicine & Pharmacy, Saigon, Republic of Vietnam (1966), not true, author Thierry Delfosse is completely wrong. The Saigon Medical Education Center was actually designed by the American architectural firm Smith Hinchman & Grylls with the collaboration of a group of 5 Vietnamese architects led by Ngô Viết Thụ
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
College of Architecture (in which the CRS Center is now housed).